“Close the door. Write with no one looking over your shoulder. Don't try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say. It's the one and only thing you have to offer.”

“Don't try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say.”

“It's not about having things figured out, or about communicating with other people, trying to make them understand what you understand. It's about a chicken dinner at a drive-in. A soft pillow. Things that don't need explaining.”

“I finally figured out that it doesn't matter what other people want to read. It matters what you want to write. You write the story that you would want to read, and then fans will come. If you love what you write, others will too.”

“When you go to high school, and you're trying to figure yourself out, sometimes it takes doing things that you don't like in order to figure out what you don't like. But it's important to maintain your sense of self throughout the journey.”

“The one thing I have learned is that you can't think your way through life. The only way to figure out what to do is to do - something.”